Desks are some of the most widely used articles of manufacture in today's society. Desks can be found in offices, homes, schools, libraries and many other facilities, and, as such, are utilized for a multitude of applications. However, with most desks, the vertical position relative to the floor is fixed and can not be adjusted. This creates numerous problems for many individuals.
For example, a disadvantaged group as a result of non-vertically adjustable desks are the millions of individuals that suffer from back pain and discomfort. For many of these individuals, sitting in a chair for extended periods of time can cause severe back pain. Consequently, frequent standing breaks and/or walking breaks must be taken in order to help alleviate some of the pain and discomfort. In addition, many try working at their desk while standing; however, because the typical desk or table is in such a relatively low position when standing, working in this position is impractical and often results in neck pain and discomfort from looking down. Other medical conditions such as hemorrhoids also may be exasperated by extended periods of sitting.
Shorter and taller than normal individuals can also have problems with standard desks and tables. For instance, many office type chairs are designed to allow vertical adjustment; however, for shorter individuals, once the chair is adjusted so that the torso of the individual is at a comfortable height relative to the surface of the desk, the feet of the individual are typically raised off the floor, thereby increasing the pressure on the spine and reducing blood flow to the legs and feet. Consequently, over extended periods of time the individual may suffer back pain, especially in the lumbar region, and poor circulation in his or her legs and feet. For taller individuals, once the chair is adjusted so that the torso of the individual is at a comfortable height relative to the surface of the desk or table, the individual's legs are squashed and/or unable to fit under the desk.
Accordingly, the need for a vertically adjustable desk or has been long felt. However, not until relatively recently has this problem been addressed. For instance, in an attempt to eliminate or reduce some of the above-discussed disadvantages, a variety of solutions have been proposed. Examples of such attempts may be found by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,788 to Jonker and U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,550 to Doyle. Both Jonker and Doyle teach a vertically adjustable table having means for urging the table in the upward direction. Such devices, however, are disadvantageous in that they are not readily adaptable to preexisting tables and desks. In addition, the tables disclosed in Jonker and Doyle lack drawers and many attributes of a desk and therefore, are not suitable for use as such. Furthermore, neither device accounts for the varying in distribution of weight that may exist by virtue of the table design or by what items may be resting on the surface of the table.
Jonker and Doyle are further disadvantaged in the manner by which they are raised and lowered and in the manner by which they are secured at a desired vertical position. For instance, the Jonker design requires that the table be raised to the up-most position before it can be lowered. In other words, the latching means cannot be controlled independent of raising and lowering the table. The Doyle design requires either the use of an electric pump or a hand pump to insert or remove fluid from cylinders to raise or lower the table, respectively, both methods of which are relatively inefficient and costly.
Attempts were made to design a vertically adjustable work station more suitable for use as a desk with shelves and drawers, an example of which may be found by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,600 to Kearney. Kearney teaches in one embodiment, a work station that can be vertically adjusted by use of an electric motor. This type of system is relatively expensive, unnecessarily requires the use of electric power, and is not adaptable to preexisting desks. In a second embodiment, Kearney teaches the use of a manually adjustable work station. However, this manual system has many disadvantages. For instance, when the desk is raised or lowered, one must manually loosen fasteners on each leg, lift the corner of the table to a desired position and then manually tighten the fasteners. Because there is no means for urging the desk in the upward direction for the second embodiment, one must either lift each corner and secure it in place separately, which would most likely result in any objects on the top surface of the desk rolling off, or one would have to solicit the help of one or more individuals to lift the desk, maintaining a relatively level top surface, while another one or more individuals secured the legs into position. In other words, a single individual could not raise and/or lower the desk by himself while maintaining a relatively level top surface. In addition, similar to the first embodiment, the second embodiment of Kerney is not adaptable to preexisting desks or tables.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,898 to Clark discloses leg extension assemblies that can be attached to a multitude of devices for use in applications in which the ground surface is uneven relative to the other legs of the device. Although the Clark device may be adapted to fit most tables, it does not solve the long felt need addressed by the herein disclosed invention. In addition, because the Clark device attaches to an elongated member, it does not readily adapt to most desks having side panels and drawers. Furthermore, each leg extension assembly works independently of each other and, thus, does not operate at the same time to evenly raise and lower a table. Each latching mechanism must be manually unlatched to raise or lower the device.
Because of the wide-spread use of desks, coupled with the physical difficulties and limitations of many users, it is readily apparent that a new and improved vertically adjustable desk lifting device, adaptable to preexisting desks, capable of easily and evenly raising and lowering a desk by a single individual, and that can be secured at a multitude of vertical positions, is needed. It is, therefore, to the provision of such an improvement that the present invention is directed.